Gazette: “Measure takes aim at adult store”

Today’s Gazette features a front-page article on the proposed new ordinance to regulate the size and location of adult businesses:

“Mayor Clare Higgins and two city councilors are calling for a zoning amendment that could derail plans for an adult video and magazine store on King Street…

“If the proposed ordinance becomes law, it would stand in the way of the company’s plan for the Northampton store, even though that plan has already been filed. Feiden noted that so-called adult establishments are not grandfathered under the state’s zoning laws.

“Anthony E. Nota, a property manager at Capital Video, declined to comment on how the proposed ordinance would affect the company’s retail model.

“‘Our attorneys will handle this,’ Nota said Tuesday.

“Higgins said the city was reacting to the company’s plans to locate on King Street, ‘just like the public is, to a business people are concerned about…

‘I think there are reasonable fears about negative effects on the neighborhood,’ the mayor said, adding, ‘I think it is the right thing to do.'”

Read the full article in the Gazette (may require a paid subscription).

Thursday’s Republican has a related article, “Proposal targets adult-themed shop”:

“[Mayor] Higgins noted that the ordinance, if passed, does not preclude Capital from opening their store on King Street but simply limits its size. Several other stores in Northampton, including Oh My, Pride & Joy, and Gazebo, sell adult videos and other merchandise, but all have display areas for these products of less than 1,000 square feet. Merchandise that is not deemed adult material is not counted in the display area equation.”

Read the full article in The Republican.

See the full text of the proposed new ordinance.